


It's a Different Kind of Love

by missred



Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Coughing, Fever, Gen, Pneumonia, Sick Fic, Sick!Frank, Sickfic, sick!fic, teen for language only as per usual guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-05
Updated: 2014-12-05
Packaged: 2018-02-28 02:07:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2715032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missred/pseuds/missred
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frank is sick, but he won't bail on the last night of tour. Everyone worries.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's a Different Kind of Love

"Are you sure about this?' Mikey asked in a careful monotone.

"Yes!" Frank retorted, exasperated.

"You promised you'd go to the doctors this morning, Frankie." Gerard reminded.

Frank sighed.

"There's no med-express within ten miles of here and if I go any further I'll miss soundcheck."

"Besides," He coughed, "This is the last night of tour, I can get through one more show."

Mikey edged his way over to Frank and stuck a hand on his forehead. Frank immediately shimmied away, but not before Mikey could release a long sigh.

"You shouldn't have played last night at _all_. And now you're too warm."

"It's warm in here." Frank shot back.

Ray, Mikey, and Gerard all shot him matching reproachful looks.

"You guys are overreacting. I'm fine."

Frank was not fine. He felt like absolute hell. But he knew it was only one more show and there was no way he was missing it just because he felt a little bit under the weather. Instead of waiting under all those watchful eyes, Frank shuffled into the back of the bus and retrieved some Tylenol from his backpack. He downs the last three pills fast and hopes it's enough to carry him through the night.

He gets through soundcheck alright. He doesn't miss any notes and if he's a little less cheery and joking than usual, well there's no crowd to see it. Just his bandmates, who are are looking at him with worry. Frank _hated it._ He hated always being the one they looked at like that.

He thought he was playing damn well for how shitty he felt, but they knew. They knew him too well and he could fool the kids for sure, but he couldn't fool them. Still, when the venue started to fill and Frank peeked around the side of the stage, the same rush of excitement he always got coursed through him. The adrenaline helped more than the pills, and fever or not, Frank was shredding.

He made it more than halfway through the set before he really started to lose steam. He was panting hard, and his vision swam as he tried to get enough oxygen to his shitty lungs. Gerard noticed. He was next to Frank in heartbeat, not even missing a note as he stretched out his hand and grazed it over Frank's forehead, resting there. Gee stared at his flushed cheeks and his rapidly rising and falling chest, but Frank didn't have the energy to reassure him. He just kept playing. He spent the last song on his knees, and then eventually laying down, but he kept playing. When the curtain went down, both Ways and Ray rushed him. Frank's legs were shaking and he couldn't catch his breathe enough to make it back to the bus on his own, so Ray and Mikey half-carried him back while Gerard huddled behind.

Frank collapsed on the couch as soon as he got onto the bus, and Gerard rushed around the tiny bathroom looking for the thermometer he knew was stashed somewhere. By the time he got back, Ray had already draped a cool damp washcloth over Frank's forehead.

"M'not a damsel in distress." Frank mumbled, and then laughed. It was a high pitched giggle, and definitely didn't sound all the way coherent. Gerard tilted his head back.

"C'mon, Frankie, open up." Frank's head lolled back, but Gerard managed to get the thermometer under his tongue. 103 degrees. Gerard wasn't a doctor, but he was a dad, and he knew that was danger-zone. Mikey, always mentally linked with his brother, appeared with a bottle of Tyenol P.M. But Gee shook his head.

"We're going to the hospital."

They spent two hour waiting in the ER watching Frank shiver and sweat and hack into his sleeves before Mikey said something very quietly while towering over the triage doctor and Frank finally got taken back. The only downside was that even though they were all family, they weren't _family_ family, and not even Mikey could get anyone to let them back with Frank. It was another two hours before a nurse came up to Gerard, Mikey, and Ray, all sitting head in hands in the waiting room.

She offered them a sympathetic look and said "Mr. Iero is in room 108 if you'd like to go back."

Gerard bolted, with Mikey and Ray in close pursuit. Frank was awake, but he was blinking drowsily, and a doctor was checking an IV in his left hand.

"Hey guysss." He smiled sleepily.

"Hey Frankie." Gerard said softly.  Mikey just sighed and gripped Rays's hand.

"What's the diagnosis, doc?"  Ray questioned quietly.

"Your--friend? Mr. Iero has contracted bacterial pneumonia."

Mikey sucked in a sharp breath.

"Luckily," the doctor continued, "You brought him here just in time. We've started him on a course of high grade intravenous antibiotics, and as long as his fever goes down and he doesn't have any further shortness of breath, he should be alright."

"Great." Gerard started breathing again and Ray started stroking Mikey's shoulder.

"Great."

"There's a sedative in his IV to stop the muscle tremors, so he'll probably be asleep soon. I'll leave you guys alone."

Frank flashed a shaky thumbs up.

"M'great a' the breathin'  thing." He mumbled.

"Of course you are." Mikey told him, face pinched. "Just get some sleep."

"Yeahhhh." Frank yawned. "Goo' idea. "

Once his eyes drooped shut, Ray, Mikey, and Gerard dragged themselves back to the bus. There weren't a lot of words. Mostly Mikey and Gerard hugged on the couch while Ray putzed around cleaning the whole bus until Mikey pulled him down and forced him to join them on the couch. Gerard tugged at his hands nervously until Mikey stilled them for him.

"Just--Frank."

"I know." Mikey and Ray said in unison.

"Someone should call Jamia."

'I'll do it." Ray shifted and pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket.

It was past two in the morning, so Ray just sent a text

_Frank sick. Dr. says it will be fine but we're gonna be a day later getting back to Jersey. Give our love to the kids. See you soon._

None of them slept very much that night. In the morning, Mikey and Gee downed a pot of coffee between the two of them while Ray googled when visiting hours started. It was only 7 a.m, two hours before they could go see Frank, when a knock came at the door to the bus. Gerard opened the door to a pale and Frank, smiling shakily at him.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"I checked out. Wanna get home, Gee." Frank hauled himself on to the bus.

"You're still sick." Mikey noted. His tone was carefully flat again, but he sucked in his cheeks like he did when he was worried.

"What else is new?' Frank aimed for flippant and missed by a mile. He just sounded tired.

"Okay." Ray took control of a situation where everyone seemed frozen. "Let's go home."

Eight hours later, the bus rolled up to Frank's house. Jamia came out, Cherry and Lily on each hip.

Frank let Gerard help him out, but nothing could stop the smile that split his face when he saw his wife.

"J." He rasped, running as fast as he could towards Jamia. She caught him in a hug managed to envelope him and keep both kids balanced, before hooking her arm through his and dragging him towards the open front door.

"You," She pressed a kiss to his sweaty forehead, "Inside and upstairs now, before I kill you."

Frank offered a mock salute and waved and his band mates, before disappearing inside. Mikey, Ray, and Gerard all ambled up the front walk.

"Thanks for getting his stupid ass home safe." Jamia said, hugging each of them in turn.

"Of course. It's our job too." Gerard said, feeling alright about Frank for the first time in three days.

"I know." Jamia offered Cherry to Ray and Lily to Mikey, Grinning as each man accepted and the babies cooed.

"Did you miss your uncles?" She asked each one, very seriously. Cherry gurgled. "Me too." Jamia agreed.

"Alright," she sighed, taking both kids back, "I'm gonna go look after short, sick, and sweaty in there. Thanks again, guys."Gerard deflated, and even Mikey seemed to lose the tension in his shoulders. Frank was probably always going get sick, but he was always going to give the band 110%  as well. And if they could always manage to get him home in one piece, everyone knew Jamia could keep him that way.

**Author's Note:**

> This was for a prompt based on a gif set of Gerard checking Frank's fever during a show. It kind of spiraled out of control from there. I love Jamia.


End file.
